While President Marcos talks crime and defence, Filipinos feel poorer
In his third State of the Nation address, Philippine President Marcos announced the end of concessions to offshore gaming operators and reiterated the need to boost national defence even after a deal was struck with China over supplying a ship aground in the South China Sea. Despite the government claims, a recent report shows that households feel poorer.
Manila (AsiaNews) – Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. today delivered his third annual State of the Nation address in the capital, which is currently battered by Typhoon Carina, forcing the closure of schools in neighbouring provinces.
Today is also important because a new report on poverty was published and the Philippines and China reached an temporary deal agreement over claims in the South China Sea.
In his speech before a joint session of Congress, Marcos underlined his administration’s commitment to fighting crime, especially cybercrime. In the past two years, certain crimes have declined by more than 10 per cent, the Philippine president said.
Marcos also announced the end of concessions to offshore gaming operators, eliciting a long applause. This kind of business ran against societal norms and was having a negative impact on the economy, as well as opening the doors to transnational crime.
The president stressed the need to modernise and strengthen the defensive capabilities of the Philippines Armed Forces.
Yesterday, the Philippines and China struck a deal allowing the resupply of the BRP[*] Sierra Madre, a Philippine ship deliberately run aground on the Second Thomas Shoal of the Spratly Islands to assert the Philippines' Exclusive Economic Zone.
Under what the Chinese Foreign Ministry called a "temporary arrangement" (neither country has released the text), "Both sides continue to recognize the need to de-escalate the situation in the South China Sea and manage differences through dialogue and consultation and agree that the agreement will not prejudice each other’s positions in the South China Sea," the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said in a statement .
However, China dis ask the Philippines to restore the original state of the submerged reef by removing the crew and structure present, and has accepted for now that only basic necessities be provided.
Contrary to what the president said in his State of the Nation address, independent research suggests that the Marcos administration (in office since June 2022) has failed to alleviate the economic hardships faced by most Filipinos.
According to a report by Social Weather Station, 58 per cent or about 16 million families rated themselves as poor, while 43 per cent say they are affected by food poverty, the highest level recorded since September 2002.
The data by Social Weather Station confirm that the perception of poverty today exceeds the level reported immediately after the COVID-19 pandemic and is accelerating, since 12.9 million families considered themselves poor in March.
The survey also shows that a further 12 per cent of families consider themselves to be borderline poor while and 30 per cent see themselves as not-poor.
Geographically, families in the Visayas, in central Philippines, report the highest level of self-rated poverty, 67 per cent, while Metro Manila has the lowest, 39 per cent.
The number of households that consider themselves "not poor" is up by 22 per cent from 8 per cent in 1991, the lowest in recent history. Still poverty affects under a third of the population.
The data can be compared to last year’s figures by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), which reported 17.54 million individuals (out of a population of 119 million) unable to meet their essential needs, a drop from 18.1 per cent in 2021 to 15.5 per cent in 2023, a figure that Marcos highlighted in his State of the Nation address.
Overall, the PSA notes that absolute poverty affects three million families, equal to the pre-pandemic level.
[*] Barko/Bapor ng Republika ng Pilipinas (ship/steamship of the Republic of the Philippines.
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04/08/2022 19:18
